TODD SHERIDAN ARTIST is currently working on a new project!

News

Ranga Tuhua - Weaving Glass

Ranga Tuhua - Weaving Glass

It has always fascinated me how our tūpuna (ancestors) were able to produce so many functional day to day objects that were aesthetic majestic art pieces. Not only were they masterful designs but they were also embellished with detailed surface designs of the finest calibre.The woven objects like eel nets (hinaki), crayfish pots (taruke) or mats (whāriki) had similar functional aspects like most other indigenous cultures but there were specific ones that were creative masterpieces. As an artist who works in glass, I wanted to see these forms produced in glass but first I needed to know if this was...


Kāpuia

Kāpuia means to gather up, or gather together to strengthen. CollaboratioNZ Whangarei is about gathering people, gathering materials, gathering ideas and working together to strengthen the group as much as the individual. Kāpuia comes from the whakatauāki (proverb) by King Tawhiao,

“Kia kōtahi ai te kākaho, ka whawhati. Kia kāpuia, e kore e whati.”

“When reeds stand alone they are vulnerable, but together they are unbreakable.”


Pou Whakarae

Pou Whakarae

Papaioea Art Project 2014 - 15   This project was initiated late last year and was to focus on three key aspects: 1.Papaioea site - Hokowhitu Campus. 2.Location – visibility. 3.Reflect values of TWoA as a Tertiary Provider.   Given the 'Core Values' of Te Wananga o Aotearoa, whakapono, nga ture, kotahitanga and Te Aroha, the idea of the Pou Whakarae, or 'Main Post' within the Pā Tūwatawata came to mind. Early records show this pou, which was a majestic towering pou, held huge significance to the Iwi. Earlier depictions describe the pou whakarae as a central post that was...


The Art of Glass Casting

Todd Sheridan

Tags cast glass, glass art, glass artist, glass workshops, Māori artist

The Art of Glass Casting

People often ask, why glass? I know it sounds rather cliché, but it came from a dream. During my training as a carver I often wondered what the carvings would look like if you could see right through them from behind the piece. This was more to do with the poupou, those carved ancestors placed around the walls within the wharenui. We often disregard the chips from the carving, but it brought back memories of one of my mentors, John Bevan Ford who said, "what we take away is just as important as what we leave. This led me to understand...


Whakairo

My earliest memories of whakairo go back to childhood times attending tangihanga at the local marae. As kids, we weren’t expected to tend to the formalities of the occasion and would promptly disappear. But there were times when inside the wharenui that I would ponder the rationale surrounding these massive ‘ancient’ forms standing erect around the interior walls of the house. I recall thinking that the carvings looked from another world and it was around this time that the idea of learning to carve came to mind. As a people with a history of passing on information from generation to generation,...